Commisson for
Iguana Bar,
Chorlton, M/c
About Startmc
“Start has taken me back to how I was feeling before I became ill. That’s a nice feeling. I’m doing things I never dreamed of doing.”
Start in Manchester is a different type of NHS mental health service. Our work is based around the experience of creativity. Through art and gardening courses, our team help people to improve and maintain mental wellbeing, develop coping strategies and self-care skills, and regain the confidence to move back into mainstream life.
“ This building, with its beautiful grounds and studios full of amazing artwork, has a creative atmosphere that refreshes you from the moment you walk in the door. You know you are in the NHS, but it’s an NHS that seems to be about health and wellbeing, rather than about illness.”
Visitor comment
Part of Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust, the Start team offer an approach that is tailored to each individual service user (student). Our philosophy is that everyone has the potential to succeed, given the right support.
We work with people experiencing long-term mental distress (mental health needs that are called severe and enduring by NHS services). Our team offers a mix of skills that students (service users) say is helpful. These include visual art, horticulture and Occupational Therapy.
I have been fortunate to have Start’s support. Start filled a black hole by enabling me to be myself when I needed help to do that.
I have regained some self-worth through my achievements at Start, so I can hold my head up high and have some pride in who I am…
“Start’s work is about hope, and that’s what all healthcare should be about.”
Professor Aidan Halligan, Director of Clinical Governance for the NHS
Most people who join Start have little prior experience of art except through school, but find that their talents are drawn out by the supportive learning environment.
How creativity supports mental well-being
More and more studies are showing that using our natural creativity can help build and protect wellbeing and speed up recovery from illness. One reason for this is because activities such as art and gardening can help us develop coping strategies and self-care skills. For instance, taking part in creative activity, and visiting art galleries and gardens, can relax and calm us, slowing down our breathing and reducing our blood pressure. Learning to use this effect for our own benefit, at times of stress in our lives, can be very helpful.
Creative activities challenge us to learn new things as well, providing exercise for the mind and body and widening our horizons. As we negotiate new challenges and master fresh skills, so we build self-esteem and confidence. This can improve motivation and help us to both keep active and to feel positive.
Both these effects of creative activity improve our resilience to stress, and this is a very important as stress weakens our immune systems and impacts on our sense of wellbeing.
By working with art and gardening, students at Start experience for themselves the revitalizing effects of creativity as part of their everyday life.
“Art has a positive effect on health because it allows for self-expression when words don't come easy.”
“The artistic creativity encouraged at Start has been a major factor in my illness management.”
A leading Arts and Mental Health organisation
Start is a multi award-winning service that is recognised nationally as one of the leaders in its field. The way we work is based on over 20 years’ experience, and also on what the latest studies tell us about the links between creativity and mental wellbeing. As a team, we are continually developing our work by action research projects and evaluative reports.
“There’s something really unique about Start… The work is pursued in such a professional way, as a specialism…” Dr. David Marshall, Consultant Psychiatrist, MMHSCT
We have regular exhibitions of Start artwork that explore mental health themes, whilst also offering health-promotion information and positive stories of recovery. This is an important element of our work as mental health promotion is a significant target in the National Service Framework for Mental Health.
How Start Works
“…absolutely outstanding. Its health promotion messages have great potential for changing attitudes. Though I have seen a range of effective arts for health work, I have not come across anything of this depth and quality, where art is used so persuasively and accessibly as an advocate for caring for our emotional wellbeing.”
Professor Louis Appleby, National Director for Mental Health (England) on visiting Now Voyager exhibition
Start is about regaining confidence and rebuilding skills to move on to wider opportunities in education, training, employment or the community. That’s why goals are discussed from the outset, and students meet regularly with us during their placements at Start to update us as their needs, aspirations and goals change. Everyone is referred to Start through secondary mental healthcare services or social services.
Placements vary in length from person to person. All students try a series of taster courses in the various studios to gain a broad range of experience, and after this, students may specialise in a particular medium for a few months. Groups are small and tutoring is supportive. Everyone learns at their own pace. Projects encourage the development of practical artistic and horticultural skills, plus an introduction to other artists’ or gardeners’ work through books and field visits.
How Start can help with skills development
Through their work in the studios, students may rapidly gain knowledge and skills, together with increasing confidence from achievements, and from discovering new abilities.
‘Start has helped [my daughter] in many ways over the years. It has motivated her… given her confidence and enabled her to... overcome a lot of fears and problems. She is getting her own independence in her home…helping her to talk to people…. I would recommend Start to anyone’
Alongside artistic and horticultural skills, many students also find themselves acquiring or revisiting important life skills such as personal organisation, working in a team, helping others, communicating ideas and opinions, thinking in different ways, and learning to have aspirations again.
I had no dreams or aspirations before becoming ill. Now I’m really interested in art and I continue with this activity in my own home. Art has had a positive effect on my recovery. I have something else to focus on rather than myself.
Some people find that they develop better ways of managing stress and anxiety, through their work at Start. They may learn self-care strategies such as how to use creative activity to calm and relax themselves, at home as well as at Start. Creative activity is also stimulating and challenging. As testing skills are mastered, so students at Start find they experience a sense of achievement and pride, and this can help to rebuild motivation, self-image and love of life after a long period of ill-health.
“Working with art has made me more perceptive and able to communicate better. Things that were bothering me before don’t; I can live with myself more…I can handle different situations better and communicate better….
I had a hell of a temper but now I’m calmer…
It’s helped me to think about other people and myself differently.”
Being ill, or experiencing emotional distress, can cause loss of skills and confidence, not least socially. People may find themselves isolated, and this makes distress and illness worse. With its small groups and welcoming atmosphere, Start can offer a first step back to mixing with people, and finding interests and talking points outside of health concerns. As confidence grows, some students like to take on mentoring roles towards newer students, and this has led some to work placements, training and further study.
Start has helped me to rebuild my confidence and self-belief after illness. My relationships with other Start members have helped me to realize that my illness need not be a negative experience but one that is valuable to me personally and also to others. I feel accepted for who I am and what I can share and this extends past my illness and into other life events and experiences.
Taking part in our regular exhibitions is another aspect of the experiences available at Start, and we also offer some students training in teaching support or workshop management.
We encourage everyone to celebrate achievements, and to build a record of personal progress throughout their placement at Start. Whether a student sees what they learn at Start as a hobby or as a future way of life, Start offers commitment to helping each person realise their aspirations and leave the service with a firm goal for the future. See our ‘moving on’ and student stories pages for more information.
There was a time when I was ashamed about having a mental illness, but I don’t feel like that anymore because it’s become an opportunity for me rather than something to hide… Through coming to Start I have found a different purpose in life.
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